I am very new to the Jeep world and I have a 16 year old son that loves to work on cars. We just purchased a 1977 Jeep CJ7 as a project. It has a 304 AMC engine but has no transmission or transfer case. The orginal transmission was the automatic Quadratrac. I do not know what the axles are yet. We live in Colorado and plan on using it in the mountains, but are not looking to rock crawl or get to extreme with it. With this set up, what transmission/transfer case should I be looking for?

Is a T18 over kill? I had come down to a T176 or a T18. I would love to be able to run this at 65 miles an hour. I am not sure if the T18 will allow me to run at 65 miles per hour. I haven't even gotten into gearing it yet. I am just trying to get the right powertrain and then I will go from there.

I am big into climbing and hiking 14,000 foot mountains and some of the access roads are pretty rough. I have seen lesser vehicles broken down or stuck on some of the roads. I just want to be able to get into some of these spots.

Is a T18 over kill? I had come down to a T176 or a T18. I would love to be able to run this at 65 miles an hour. I am not sure if the T18 will allow me to run at 65 miles per hour. I haven't even gotten into gearing it yet. I am just trying to get the right powertrain and then I will go from there.

I am big into climbing and hiking 14,000 foot mountains and some of the access roads are pretty rough. I have seen lesser vehicles broken down or stuck on some of the roads. I just want to be able to get into some of these spots.

The T-18 is considered the Holy Grail of CJ transmissions by off-roaders. It's built for much heavier rigs, so they are known to be bullet-proof in a CJ.

If you go with a T-18, you'll need an adapter to mate to the D300. Also, I highly recommend you consider a T-19, as well. It combines all the bullet-proof qualities of the T-18, but with fully synchronized gears. It also seems to have a shorter throw, which makes it more driver-friendly than the T-18s I've driven.

All 4-speed trannys for your CJ will have a 1:1 high gear. Your axle gearing and tire-size will dictate whether you need an over-drive, or not.

With a 304 you should be able to do 100mph no matter what tranny you pic. Unless you get a 5 speed all the 4 speeds have a 1-1 final ratio so it shouldn't matter. The t18 is a whole lot stronger but the t176 will be a more affordable swap if you want to use a dana 300 tcase.

Thanks for the advice, but the boy LOVES trucks. He has rebuilt 2 already and sold them. I have seen him tear apart apart transmissions, engines, rewire, rebuild, whatever he can get his hands on. He actually just got a job in a body shop.

I am the novice and the boy is the expert (he reads Chilton manuals for fun) I am just trying to bond with him, and this project has us both excited. I am trying to get some ideas so I don't feel like an idiot.

So from what I have read hear and other places I am thinking the following should be good:

The tires are 33 x 12.5 x15 (these are not going to change) The engine is a 304 amc, and there is no transmission or transfer case, right now.

If we put in a T176 with a D300 and change out the rear to a Dana 44, we should run 4.1 gears to get good setup, and a little bit better MPG.